The NBA is a league of stars. If you don’t have any, you aren’t going to win. If you aren’t winning, chances are that you aren’t going to be featured much on national television. Throughout the dark days of the process, it would be very rare to ever find the Sixers on any nationally televised ESPN or ABC games. It is crazy what a couple of years can do.
Since those days, a lot has changed for the Sixers. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons have blossomed into two of the leagues brightest stars. They have also gone on to add perennial all-star Jimmy Butler. The Sixers have now become legitimate contenders to come out of the east. The NBA has been waiting for the Sixers to finally become relevant again. Stars and big markets carry the NBA and Philadelphia is a top five market in the country.
Time will tell just how much of a contender the Sixers are. Last night’s game against Toronto told us a lot. Despite losing the game, the Sixers hung in there tough with the 2nd best team in the NBA. They were in the game for 42 minutes despite Joel Embiid playing one of the worst games of his career. I can assure you he will not play that bad the next time these teams meet.
Even with last night’s loss, the Sixers will be prominently featured on television in the upcoming weeks. This includes their Christmas Day showdown with the Boston Celtics. When I was growing up in the Iverson era, I was accustomed to the Sixers being in the national spotlight a ton. It makes me happy to see them back in it with Joel Embiid leading the charge. God willing, they will remain in it and win a couple championships along the way.
